Sultana Frizell named flag bearer for Canada

Sultana Frizell didn’t get a chance to march in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

But she’ll be front and centre when the event wraps up tonight.

The hammer thrower was named Canada’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony after defending her gold medal from four years ago in impressive fashion.

Frizell — who set a new Commonwealth record in the event on three separate occasions in Glasgow — did not participate in opening ceremony on July 23 because she was still training at a camp in Portugal.

The 29-year-old from Perth, Ont., said she was both surprised and honoured to be asked to carry the Maple Leaf into Hampden Park.

“Last night everyone took me into a back room and they were like ’Sultana, we’ve got something to tell you.’ And I was like ‘Is somebody dead?“’ the bubbly Frizell joked. “It was never really in my head. I see the people carrying the flag and I’m like ‘Hey that’s really cool and it would be really nice to do it someday.’